Hitchcocks Forum

I was in the market place for a Bonnie, or even a new R.E., so started phoning round.
Found a heavily discounted new R.E. up this way, started to ask about trade-in, it was almost too much trouble to get a reply but was a ridiculous figure on my X anyway, thought about a cash deal but remembering his attitude last time when I asked about the Bullet, it seemed that he had little interest in selling R.E.' so I asked my self what if I needed any help with warranty, so I dis-guarded the whole R.E. all together.
I found several Bonnies on eBay, 1 in particular caught my attention so phoned my insurance company for a quote, they would like a reg. no. if possible, so I phoned the seller in Rochester for it, who REFUSED to give it to me!!!
How bloody stupid, I can only suspect too much bad history on MOT's they didn't want me to see?
Really helpful, so they didn't get the gig!
The game must be too good, although I keep hearing other-wise!
Will have a nice Bonnie on my drive on Monday from a really helpful dealer in Norfolk, so not all are bad.
Terry

hope you love it.. I've had a 2002 T100 in the garage for 5 years now (the longest I have ever had a bike).. its the early carb model and I still love it! its got the triumph 'off road' cans on, rejetted carb, comfort king and queen seat. I paid £3600 for her, and could probably get the same now. she handles lovely, after I fitted a set of Hagons.. but the new Enfield Classic handles just as well I must say

Thanks pd, I had an 06 Bonnie until my doctor bunged me up with so many drugs that made my ostio arthritus worse and I 'gave up' bike, dumped ALL the drugs and got a lot better able to handle bikes again, the R.E.'s have given me the confidence back, but cant do the distances I want for next year.
Oh how I missed that Bonnie, just had to get another one, my 3rd, the 1st was a 1954 Thunderbird I had in 1975, you could ride it with a sidecar then, mine was a Watsonian Monza!
These 'new' Bonnies will do 80,000 plus without trouble if looked after.
First ride planned, Southend Easter bike gathering over Easter, about 400 miles each way, then the Scotland 500 Coast, but I will include John 'o' Groats down past Keiss to Wick.
Possibly the Essex Air Ambulance Ride-out in September penciled in.
The Bonnie I've bought has loads of extra's for touring, K/Q seat. rack, screen etc, so all set to go.

I gots widespread arthritis in everything that's a joint and spondylitis in every thing that's not a joint. Tramadol? - just say no to being a zombie. Ain't life fun

Snotty dealers? - walk away and go to next one. The next one, was Hayballs in Salisbury and they couldn't have been more pleasant.

One of the first things they talked about was their workshop (clue). I honestly don't know how some of them make any money if they don't want to sell their wares. I wanted to know lots of technical stuff so we sat and nattered over coffee for ages. Test ride I got the CGT because they'd just sold (clue) the registered Classic demo. First service turned cat 'n dogs despite fine forecast (I wear peak and Oakley safety spectacles of seeing) so I had to get a lid with a visor, so they gave me bungees to tie stuff on, plus the C-spanner for the rear forks RE forget to include (apparently a spanner is provided with every set of shocks so they had a drawer full, another clue), and free coffee and a loo. I still got home soaked through to the skin. Hydrophane really does waterproof leathers, sorted

I'm lucky to have a couple of excellent dealers locally who always have the coffee on and bacon butties on MOT saturday mornings. As the saying goes, nice people to do business with. They're no longer RE dealers but if I ever want another yamahonduki I'll get it there. Jefrs, there's a green herb that is superb for the busted joints and achey old bones, I've found it far superior to opiates. Your doctor won't approve officially, but unofficially...Just have plenty of chocolate to hand!

Jfrs, I got goaded onto the strongest Tramadol, bloody stuff took me to some very dark places, when we moved up here (Livingstone) from Bath in the early part of the year I dumped all medication, and doctors, best thing I ever did!!!!!
Weigh anchors, the lot of then!!
They did the same with insulin, tried 2 different types of injection and 3 types of pills, the insulin caused all sorts of problems, nearly put me hypo, could not decide it type 1 or 2, in the end they settled for 1.5!!!!
Doing better by my self now, watching what I eat, exercise etc and absolutely no side effects or problems.
These bastards cost me my Bonnie and the loss of about 3 years biking!
Took some doing to kick the tram, but done it before with fags & drink, so I knew my will power could do it.
Women not so easy though!!.
The dealer for the Bonnie is Weatherbys in Harleston, Norfolk, seemed really helpful and gave me a really good price too, especially as the bike is fully loaded with the toys.
Cant wait for Monday's delivery!

I'm with Jefrs on this one! I went to an RE dealer who offered me a derisory sum for a bike I'd bought from the same person less than 2 years earlier. I then went to Hayball who offered me a decent trade in price over the 'phone and were as good as their word when I showed up a few days later. I ended up buying a CGT with custom paint from them and it's lovely. I've used them for servicing the CGT since and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. Free coffee and a decent loo are important, as are friendly helpful staff who will offer a decent deal and stick to it.

I met a bloke who rode his ageing Guzzi up to a Hardly Davison dealership with a bundle of cash in his pocket with a view to buying on the day. Parked up right by the door, helmet off, salesman ambled up and said "You'll have to park over there, Harley parking only in this area". Bad attitude or what? ....The docile sod did what he was told and still did the business. I know what I would have done. Adam

Thunderdird 2 If any seller refused to give me a reg number it would be a red flag straight away. Whats he hiding would be my question. I would just tell seller I need reg number to do HP check & accident history that's why insurance company's want it so they can see if its an Ex category write off or stolen & recovered & history. If seller refuses its no sale.

Any seller refusing to give a registration number would lose my business. I am fortunate in that I can get checks done via a friend in the trade over the phone and pay him the small fee later.